THE GO-GO MUSEUM PRESENTS
CHOCOLATE CITY PLAYDATE 2024: Salvador, BRAZIL
The latest in a series of public events celebrating the inspiring connections between food, music and dance traditions in Washington, D.C. and the world.
The Go-Go Museum and the D.C. Folklife Network brought ten DC creatives and scholars to Salvador, Brazil in August 2024 for the latest in their signature “Chocolate City Playdate” series sponsored by EventsDC.
Building on previous cultural exchanges with creatives in New Orleans (known as Mumbo v. Gumbo), the Go-Go Museum delegation traveled to Brazil to participate in the International African Diaspora Dance Traditions Conference in Salvador, Aug. 4–10.
“It was a truly spiritual experience being able to confer with our counterparts in our sister city of Salvador,” said Dr. Natalie Hopkinson, Chief Curator of the Go-Go Museum and Associate Professor at American University. “Brazil is a special place for anyone who wants to understand the Black Diaspora experience and the global connections to go-go music and culture.”
Added Ronald “Moe” Moten, Founder and Executive Director of the Go-Go Museum: “We plan to share and ensure the people of D.C. and Brazil capitalize from all we have in common as we know the spirits of the ancestors are with us. I really look forward to next steps and the fruits of this mission.”
Southeast Washington, D.C. native Dee Dwyer, the celebrated photographer whose work the National Gallery of Art likened to the iconography of Dorothea Lange, documented the experience along with D.C. filmmaker Will McKinley III.
Go-Go Museum & Cafe Chef Angie Rose, a veteran of the Food Network program “Chopped: Spin It to Win It” studied with the acclaimed Brazilian chef Solange Borges of Culinária de Terreiro at her farm outside Salvador. The culinary exchange will inspire the Go-Go Museum’s diaspora street food menu when it is slated to open the Anacostia bricks-and-mortar location in November 2024.
DC-based parks scholar Dr. Autumn Saxton-Ross led the delegation on a hike through the grounds of Parque São Bartolomeu. The group frolicked under waterfalls and spotted a pack of wild horses. Local park rangers explained that these were the same rainy forests where, historically, enslaved Brazilians once escaped to quilombos, or retreats where they created fugitive communities filled with drumming and dance. Areas of the park designated for Afro-Brazilian spiritual practices sparked connections to similar sacred green places in Washington, D.C. and groups such as the DC Mutual Aid Apothecary.
Playwright and cultural scholar Dr. Nina Angela Mercer, Howard University PhD student Geneva Greene and acclaimed curator and choreographer Princess Mhoon convened with dancers from around the world at the conference and at sambas all over Salvador. At one Friday night samba, Afro-Brazilian percussive band Oz Favoritos Samba Diferenciado boomed on the streets leading up to the entrance of a Catholic church — Igreja São Lázaro e São Roque — where a strip of pop-up barbecues and bars stretched for nearly two miles. The Salvador street festivals were reminiscent of famed Washington, D.C. street music festivals of days past such as Unifest, D.C. Caribbean Carnival and the Georgia Avenue Day Parade.
The museum delegation also witnessed a scrimmage between Brazilian professional basketball team Esporte Clube Vitoria against Howard University men’s basketball. The youngest member of the Go-Go Museum delegation, Howard University international affairs junior Maven McGann, interviewed players and staff from both teams.
To learn more about the museum’s Salvador trip and diaspora cultural and communication connections to go-go, see dance scholar Geneva Greene speak this Saturday, Sept. 7 at the “Summer Set” Showcase 11 a.m. -4:30 p.m. Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Marion Barry Avenue, SE. Greene’s work for the past two years mapping Black dance traditions and go-go in Washington, D.C. formed the scholarly foundation for this expedition. She can be contacted at https://mailchi.mp/504d8a8de3f2/geneva-greene
RSVP for the 9/7 event here. https://Summerset.eventbrite.com
Stay tuned for more public events, exhibits, films, and publications exploring more connections along the DC-Salvador axis. Visit www.gogomuseumcafe.com or email info@gogomuseumcafe.com
